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| 'Stop patting yourselves on the back' |
| By thewesterlysun.com |
| Published: 03/21/2011 |
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Jena McGuire said her son, a freshman at Westerly High School, has asked her if he can go to a different school. McGuire, a former special needs teacher in the Westerly School Department, also has a son who is a senior at the high school. She was one of several parents to tell the School Committee Wednesday of problems their children face in local schools. She said students at the high school are anxious and feel the atmosphere of the school is dangerous. "My senior doesn't care anymore and my freshman has already given up. This has been a horrendous year," McGuire said, prompting some parents in the Town Council Chambers to applaud. About 60 people attended the committee's meeting, which began with a 70-minute executive session on school security. The committee later heard from parents, Police Chief Edward A. Mello and Schools Superintendent Roy Seitsinger Jr. for about three hours. The discussion followed allegations of a gang presence and bullying at Westerly High School. On Jan. 10, a 17-year-old boy was severely injured in a beating outside of Tower Street School Community Center. McGuire and other parents said the dress code and a policy limiting the use of cell phones are not being enforced. She and other parents accused school administrators of lying to them. James E. Murano Jr., a school committee member and former Westerly High School principal, said that without specific information from students or parents it would be difficult for administrators or the committee to act. Enforcing the dress code can be troublesome as it can lead to lawsuits, Murano said. Cell phone usage is "a parenting issue," he said. Mello said police took the Jan. 10 assault very seriously. The department's juvenile officer led the investigation, which resulted in five arrests of teenagers charged with felony assault and conspiracy. Two other juveniles were later charged with intimidating a witness. All of the charges were reviewed and deemed appropriate by the state Attorney General's Office, Mello said. Mello repeated his assertion that the juveniles charged in the assault are not gang members. He also said that an undercover narcotics operation at the high school in 2010 revealed no organized gang activity at the school. Mello also discussed a Sun story detailing an email from Westerly High School Vice Principal Jim Spellman to police and school officials in September alleging gang activity at the high school. Mello, without naming Spellman, said the e-mail referred to two individuals but said they were not known to be violating school policies or laws. Mello said the department's third shift supervisor was notified of the e-mail and that the supervisor assigned patrol officers to monitor the school and notified Principal Paula Fusco of the situation. "The information presented to us was taken very seriously," Mello said. Ultimately police did not develop sufficient cause to question the individuals named in the e-mail, Mello said. Mello said police are involved at the high school as coaches and for other activities. The police chief said he had arranged for an informational meeting on gang activity and identification to be run by a Rhode Island Department of Corrections expert, and that he had invited school administrators to the meeting. Mello said the meeting would be closed to the public due to the possible discussion of sensitive law enforcement information. He said he expects a similar meeting with the same expert to be scheduled for the following week. Mello said the department's school resource officer (SRO) had been reassigned to a patrol assignment last March due to budgetary and staffing restraints. A patrol officer who had been assigned to the school from September through January was also reassigned for the same reasons, he said. He said the school remains the responsibility of the department. "We fully appreciate the need for a partnership with the school department," Mello said. School Committee member Jack P. Carson Sr. said he had been quietly observing the high school at dismissal time recently. Although Carson said he did not observe anything unusual, he said he supported reinstatement of the SRO position. He called the Jan. 10 assault "shocking." "This is not the same town we grew up in," Carson said. Julie Passaretti, who said she has worked in the Westerly school system for 12 years, said one of her daughters was bullied to such an extent at Westerly Middle School that she now attends an out-of-district charter high school. Passaretti said she felt ignored when she discussed the bullying with school officials and was told little could be done because there were no witnesses. Passaretti also said that while working as a substitute teacher at Westerly High School she had witnessed students shoving each other into lockers and using profane language toward each other and toward her. "The School Committee needs to get its head out of the sand. Stop patting yourselves on the back for the [new] science wing," Passaretti said. Passaretti also praised Spellman and said students respected and responded to him. Spellman has been on leave since January. Murano said he was sorry to learn of the struggle Passaretti's daughter endured but questioned how she could both praise Spellman and also complain of policies not being enforced. Committee member Gina Fuller said students she polled at the middle and high schools said they felt safe, but she complained of "awful comments" made by girls on social networking Internet sites. Read More. |
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